Features you do NOT like on new vehicles?

[ryster]

Sunroofs.
Piano black trim (this is an actual deal breaker for me depending on how much if it and where.)
Overly aggressive seat bolstering.

 

[Nick1994]

A couple members have posted about start/stop in their hybrid, but that's entirely different. The engine isn't going to stop at a light, and then turn in within 1 second in a hybrid. The HVAC system also continues to work in a hybrid, not in a standard car. I drove a rental Malibu that had it and it was horrible, the A/C would turn off and it would get humid in the car fast.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

poor visibility

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Traction control that cannot be FULLY disabled. Just TRY to get up my driveway hill in the Winter
with only FWD and snowtires with traction control - It ain't happening!
Busy Touch Screens mounted like a 79 dollar tablet on top of the dash.
Lack of KNOBS for heater ventilation and Alpha Charlie ... and radio
Undersized, short lived rear Disc Brake Pads - as found on most every Japanese car
Hard to clear Windshield Cowl area in Winter snow and slush conditions
ABS and mushy, long travel Brakes
Dead, rubbery EP steering - as found on most every Pass Car and CUV these days
Poorly designed Steering Wheel rim shape. Where is a proper flat or cove on the front face to accommodate hand bones?
Undersized Seats designed for 105lb little girls.
Molded plastic front end that disappears after a crash. Where did my car go?!
Engine Undertray Can't change oil without undoing 23 fasteners - and I just broke two and lost one!
Anti roll back feature that doesn't work and is dangerous in certain advanced driving situations.
The kids are alright - leave Nanny at home!
Terminal understeer with a hesitancy to turn in. You cant drive, and we wont let you!
Poor Body Roll Control; 15 degree list to starboard around corners. engines ahead 1/2!
Terrible Sounding Radio It doesn't take much $$ for decent sound, guys!
No bottom end Torque. Where's the Beef?!
10-speed Automatic Transmissions. If six gears won't do it, you need a bigger or better engine, buddy!
The missing Manual Transmission option in sporty cars. Put your phone down and drive, dope!
Steering Wheel mounted too high. Airbag position before driving control and comfort at the helm
100 Buttons on the steering wheel. Really?
Undersized Door Storage that wont take a one litre plastic bottle. I'm thirsty, where is my canteen?
Ugly Rubbermaid Dashboard: Where have all the good materials gone?

I better stop here .... Ken

 

[oggb]

VWAG MMIs -- all of them suck. They're obviously aware that they suck because they keep changing how they suck.

 

[Obi Wan Noobi]

Definitely low profile tires. They are more susceptible to damage on bad roads and the ride is rougher.

I agree, and to add to that, they also offer poor traction, are expensive, and don't last very long.

 

[4WD]

A couple members have posted about start/stop in their hybrid, but that's entirely different. The engine isn't going to stop at a light, and then turn in within 1 second in a hybrid. The HVAC system also continues to work in a hybrid, not in a standard car. I drove a rental Malibu that had it and it was horrible, the A/C would turn off and it would get humid in the car fast.

Yep. Our Fusion Hybrid will get you started electric >>ICE kicks in>>regenerate when slowing down … all good
You can pop the Malibu in “N” and the engine stays on …

 

[Aredeeem]

Push button starts. My wife consistently has no idea where her keys are, along with the myriad of keys, and whatever else are attached to them. I told her the next time we go on “key hunt,” apologies to Lloyd Bridges, I’m gonna take that everlovin’ key fob and weld it to the dashboard

 

[NitroM3]

I love this thread.........
I wish I had thought about starting one like this on a few other vehicle related forums...

I give this a Amazon rating.

 

[wemay]

Touchscreens for radios and climate control.

 

[NitroM3]

Seat belt dingers that stay on. I use my trucks in the fields a lot and it’s annoying. Also my new John Deere 5100e has “Front Brake Assist” where it pulls in 4x4 on a brake application when in forward motion. It’s very jerky when it engages and drops out. No way to disable it either. Absolutely brilliant safety feature but needs refined more.

Of all the complaints... I felt bad for you on this one, so here is the remedy


You can find these on ebay and amazon


insert in seat belt clip

Of all the compliants this is the only one I felt bad for you sur!

 

[Kawiguy454]

absolutely hate the Honda accords lane nanny constantly wiggling the steering and dash flashing if you dont drive perfectly in middle of the road. And there is no buried menu to disable it.

 

[avacado11]

Auto stop start is a big one.

-electronic parking brakes
-Gear shifters that still use a lever but are electronic(FCA, BMW, Audi)
-CVTs
-LED headlights(expensive to replace if damaged
-VSC that cannot be deactivated
-big wheels, low profile tire as standard equipment on SUVs

lastly, “off road” packages on car-based platforms ie GMC Terrain/Acadia AT4 and similar. We all know a terrain doesn’t have the articulation, clearance, and driveline to make it far down a trail.

 

[mark pruett]

The fact is they are becoming hard to fix by yourself. Too much electronic stuff stuffed in the front of the car, cost a lot to fix or replace etc. Heck you even need special tools to fix brakes on cars with electronic handbrakes.

You preferred it back in the days when you wore an onion on your belt, because it was the style at the time?

Modern cars can't work without electronics- we couldn't have the performance, economy or emissions we currently do without them. Nor would they be as easy to diagnose (yes, the codes often make it easier, unless you're some dinosaur who is stuck in the 1960s)

I don't doubt that the move away from maintenance features is the fact that the vast majority of people do two things- they only drive their cards SO long, and they don't do much if any maintenance themselves on them. So why should manufacturers spend more money to enable user maintenance? It doesn't sell cars, and it makes cars cost more. So they are moving away from it- it's more that consumers are pulling them in that direction than they're trying to push them in the other direction. Same thing with stuff like spare tires; I'm sure that the vast majority of people just call AAA or something, and never even use their donuts, much less a full-sized spare. Personally, that's where I draw my line- I want a real spare of some kind, not just a can of fix-a-flat. What happens if I get stranded out on a road in the middle of nowhere with a big puncture? I'm out of luck for hours until someone else can show up and fix my tire.

And stop/start increases fuel economy by 5-7% and emissions by a commensurate amount. That seems like a huge win for a really minor set of changes.

 

[64bawagon]

CVT transmissions and most automatics.

Give mea a cheap car with stick shift, a decent engine, power windows, power door locks, A/C, and I'm happy. Does anyone still make cheap cars like that?

If people actually bought those types of vehicles then the OEM's would build them. Many people say they want them but then they sit on the dealer lot like toys from the land of misfits.

 

[UG_Passat]

New vehicles often come with 'upgraded' features and benefits such as safety or design layout, reliability issues fixed from prior models, etc. At this point you'd think the auto should be near perfected. But it seems for every 5 steps forward we take about 3 back. Here are some of the gripes as to why I don't buy new vehicles, other than outrageous costs and depreciation.

* Too many recalls. I'm not interested in being a beta tester. Recalls on things we should have long ago perfected like steering, brakes, airbags, etc. really ward me away.
* Making maintenance harder for the consumer or DIYer. The removal of dipsticks and sealed systems is a big one I detest.
* The looks - too many modern cars look the same, and are ugly. I also do not like the large bass-mouth grills, and the large obnoxious lights found on some like the trucks with the huge [ grill ] lighting. Ugh.
* Speaking of lights, why do headlights turn off when the turn signal is engaged? Who thinks losing a headlight is a good feature?
* Cars turning off when stopped at intersections. This must be really bad on the starter, fuel economy, and engine wear.
* Much cheaper materials, like paper thin leather seats and upholstery that wears out in 10k miles.

I'm sure there's more.

Responding to the bolded line:

They don't. It's the DRL's that turn off when the turn signals are on. It is to make it easier for other people to see your turn signal, as many times the DRL can wash out the turn signal.

 

[UG_Passat]

Low profile tires like 225/40/18… which you will bend wheels living in the snow belt.

Fortunately, that never happened to me, back when I lived in the snow belt and hit plenty of potholes back in the day

My co-worker, kept on bending his factory aluminum wheels with 205/55r16 tires.... then kept his winter steelies on and never had an issue since

 

[Hermann]

• Auto Start / Stop in any vehicle is a nightmare
• Tablet lookalike infotainment system - lazy design
• Integrated climate control functions into the infotainment system - you're out of heat / air con if it quits working
• Electronic parking brake - if it breaks and it's in the locked position you're SOL
• Don't spill your coffee on your rotary style shifter (or buttons) or you're SOL
• Lane keep assist - it's worthless and can get you into an accident on some roads
• Radar cruise control - worthless and a nightmare to drive with, but in some vehicles you're forced to pay for it
• A bottle of slime instead of a spare tire - not even a feature
• Modern AWD systems in many vehicles is just an afterthought and you're better off spending the money on winter tires
• Tailgate and storage gimmicks on some pickup trucks
• The lack of auto up/down window buttons on some vehicles unless you go for a higher trim - I mean, common.

Is that all, go get a bicycle with a little motor on it, you will be happier.. Totally manual.

 

[Duffyjr]

This new fancy climate control where you set the temperature and the system does the rest is full of complications and unnecessary advantages. Go back 60 years and you had the perfect simple system.

Hot outside? Roll down the window.

Very hot outside? Swing open the wing vents so you get that blast of air directly.

Extremely hot outside? Reach under the dashboard and find the lever for the cowl vent. Open that up. The ultimate way of keeping cool.


Sarcasm

Seriously though I really miss the wing vents on my 91 Bronco. I swear that HVAC system they used in the Broncos were designed for a standard cab pickup, it just couldn't cool it down fast enough.

 

[kebabaluba]

You preferred it back in the days when you wore an onion on your belt, because it was the style at the time?

Modern cars can't work without electronics- we couldn't have the performance, economy or emissions we currently do without them. Nor would they be as easy to diagnose (yes, the codes often make it easier, unless you're some dinosaur who is stuck in the 1960s)

I don't doubt that the move away from maintenance features is the fact that the vast majority of people do two things- they only drive their cards SO long, and they don't do much if any maintenance themselves on them. So why should manufacturers spend more money to enable user maintenance? It doesn't sell cars, and it makes cars cost more. So they are moving away from it- it's more that consumers are pulling them in that direction than they're trying to push them in the other direction. Same thing with stuff like spare tires; I'm sure that the vast majority of people just call AAA or something, and never even use their donuts, much less a full-sized spare. Personally, that's where I draw my line- I want a real spare of some kind, not just a can of fix-a-flat. What happens if I get stranded out on a road in the middle of nowhere with a big puncture? I'm out of luck for hours until someone else can show up and fix my tire.

And stop/start increases fuel economy by 5-7% and emissions by a commensurate amount. That seems like a huge win for a really minor set of changes.

You know 10 years ago most cars did not have all this junk they put in the cars today. My car is from 2003 and while it has many electronic parts it still a lot cheaper to fix and maintain than new cars. I red articles about new cars that got minor front end damage, the pricetag to fix that was skyhigh because of the sensors they put in the front bumper. And who say that it cost manufacturers more money to make cars easy to fix? They spend more money making cars harder to fix, requiring special tools to do so and make you as a consumer dependent to a dealer. Electric handbrake is good example to that. You need special tools to replace brakes on a car with electric handbrake, not very service frendly for people who might do that themselves.